School was school, and I continue to be worn out at the end of the day. Hopefully they will hire another Head of Faculty and a Vice Principal soon. That will help me for sure.
Sunday Jack started rugby training. Both kids were on the pitch, although Millie was only watching. Stuart was coach, and I went for a swim. I swam 50 laps in 48 minutes. I swam without stopping at all. Yahoo! I am kind of liking the swimming thing. If only I were swimming in a more suitable pool. The rugby club pool is really intended for play and not laps. The guy swimming in the lane next to me was so fast that he created a tidal wave of sorts. I have decided after last night's swim I am ready to swim in the middle of the Atlantic.
I joined the rest of the family on the pitch, and then it was time to go home. Once home the kids showered and Stuart got dinner for them. Rugby nights lend themselves to a dinner of convenience. Jack had two eggs and Millie had a hotdog and green beans. Both kids then enjoyed some watermelon and then it was off to bed, but not until their books were read. I do love that they both want to be read to just before bed.
Monday I started to feel as if I was getting a handle on my job. I felt as if I could breathe a little more.
Jack had piano lessons and since we have meetings on Mondays until 3 pm, I had to call and have Stuart make sure he was ready so I could pick him up and take him to piano. Meleane, my new teacher, is still catching a lift from me. So since dropping her off at her hotel is on the way to the House of Arts, it only made sense to pick up Jack on my way through. He wasn't as thrilled. He got in the car and started complaining about not having a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He carried on as if he had lost his best friend. My goodness, when will that ever stop?
Piano lessons were good, according to Jack. He learned to play with his left and right hand, as well as being able to count the beats.
Once home both kids bathed, ate a to of fish and chips, and Jack actually had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich too. Can you tell he loves peanut butter?
Stuart headed to rugby practice while I read books to the kids and tucked them in for the night.
After tucking them in, I decided to watch one of the last two episodes of Bachelor in Paradise. What a train wreck! I then turned to the Housewives of Orange County. There's so much more class in that show......Not! I fell asleep before Stuart even got home, around 9 pm. I stayed on the couch until almost midnight, then got up and showered for bed.
Tuesday was a mentally exhausting day. I'm not exactly sure when the madness will slow down, but I know the strides we are making with the behavioral management in our school will be worth the tiredness I feel at this point. Our new intervention room, proposed by me, had its second guest on Tuesday. It seems that fighting is our favorite thing to do at my school. We had a boy at the end of the day who got into a fight and then wouldn't come to anyone. He kept running away from every adult who approached him. In the end, the social worker wrote his mother a letter and requested she come in and meet with us.
Even though school wore me out, I still went and swam 1250 meters. After I was finished I was glad that I had done it, but in the middle of it I'm not always a fan.
Jack had a meltdown as we were leaving the rugby club. He was standing outside of the club and wouldn't come to the car. Stuart started the car, backed up, rolled down the window and asked Jack if he was going to come with us. He shook his head 'no', so Stuart pulled away. We made a circle around and Jack was running after us and crying. I opened the door and he jumped in the car. When will he ever get to a point where he just complies and leaves when it's time to leave, without all the fuss? I love Jack and Millie so much, but often know I am not doing something right. Help!
Once we were home we went into our 'get ready for bed' mode and Stuart fixed the kids dinner. Jack showered and I bathed Millie. Hot dogs and green beans seemed to do the trick. As I put the kids to bed that night I reassured him that we would have never really left him at the club. I also told him I wanted him to start working on dealing with the fact that the fun he has must come to an end each day and new fun will start the next day. He seemed to understand.
Wednesday morning I went into the classroom of the boy who had been in a fight the previous day. I told him to come with me to the intervention room. He complied. But an hour later he just bolted out of the room. He ended up going back to his classroom. Some thought since he was fine I there then he should be okay to be in class. This thought nearly caused me a mental breakdown. The principal agreed with me, and in the end he was removed from the classroom. He had another altercation on the bus which required a meeting with his mom on Thursday. The perimeters we are placing on these students are a long time coming, and refreshing for me to see them working. Overall the behavior is much better this year.
Stuart had an interview for a position at the district office in the English Medium Teacher support department. He felt like it went well. It would be a lateral move, which may not be that advantageous at this time. He will make a decision when and if he needs to do so. Until then he is just flattered that they sought him out and asked if he would be interested in applying.
Millie had dance again on Wednesday and loved it. Prior to dance she was having a snack and playing Stuart's iPad. I know it's a random picture, but she looked so serious and grown up.
After dance, I did what every Mother of the Tear did and fed her a Nutella sandwich on the way home. She still ate a few fries after her bath, but I was afraid she would fall asleep on the journey if she didn't have food.
Jack ate 12 sausage rolls for dinner. We really can't seem to feed him enough these days. He's growing like a weed. The size 2 rugby boots we bought him while we were home this summer are already too small for him. Good thing we bought a pair the next size up as well.
Thursday brought about a little bit of a reprieve for me at work. I actually sat at my desk and got some clerical things taken care of. It was nice, and surreal, all at the same time. I really am just waiting for the chaos to ensue. I hope I am waiting all year and it never happens.
We did our Thursday night grocery shop to get it out of the way for the weekend. While we were shopping Kayleigh messaged and said she needed to take to me about the before and after school care of Jack and Millie. Kayleigh just returned from the UK and the kids were so excited. In the meantime we have been taking the kids to a neighbors to watch them in the mornings and then we have hurried home in the afternoons to meet them. This week we both start our professional development days, so we won't be home until after 3 pm on two days of the week. We didn't worry about it much because we knew Kayleigh would be back.
Once we returned from the grocery store, Stuart dropped me off at Cathy's to speak with Kayleigh. Is seems that Sunflower School, where the kids go to school, has offered for her to work there again this year. The principal last year worked around us so that Kayleigh could work at the school as well. Kayleigh would ride to and from school with the kids and then just stay to work.
There was a change in administration and no one knows the entire story. The new principal, who used to be a professional development provider with Abu Dhabi Education Council, told her that she could either work 7 am to 3 pm, or just work a half day, even though she told him of her commitment to us and that we were a Sunflower family. The second reason I am not a fan of this new principal. When I met to Meet the Teacher, I may have already harped on this, I never even saw the new principal and I was there for at least 45 minutes. His office door was closed the entire time. Now, I understand meeting with parents, but on a day where all parents are coming to school and you are the brand new principal, you should not be having private meetings with parents. That's the Principalship 101. And now that he won't be flexible with Kayleigh, I am less impressed than I already was. The best part is that the school is 4 teacher assistants short and he's acting so inflexible? Silly man! Plus, no expat works 8 hours a day.
Cathy ended up emailing him as if she were Kayleigh, and asked what her salary would be if she worked from 8 am to 2 pm. Basically, not asking but telling him what she was willing to do. As of Thursday night there was no response, so we may be in a quandary come Sunday.
Thursday evening we went to Fechin and Gemma's for dinner. They no longer work for ADEC. They took jobs at a private school over the summer. They say they are working a lot harder, but they seem to be happy. We always have so much fun with them. I had bathed the kids before we went to their house so when Millie fell asleep just after 8, on their sofa, it didn't really bother me.
Friday morning I set my alarm for my 50 lap swim. It's getting easier but my knee is starting to ache more. Boo! After swimming I went home and showered. We all just lounged around the house until it was time for Stuart to go to his rugby match. The kids and I headed to the pool while he was taped, or whatever they do two hours before the match. Just before 5 pm we went over to the pitches and watched the women play for a bit. I had brought the kids sandwiches because on really busy nights the rugby club kitchen is super slow. So, although we are really not supposed to have outside food there, I broke the rules.
We met up with the Turners, Richardson's, Davisons and one of Cathy's friends, Mandy, or as Jack refers to them 'the gang'. It seemed that beers might have been flowing a little more than normal. By the time Stuart played I wasn't watching the pitch. Oops! He even got kicked in the face and had to go off until his nose stopped bleeding. I didn't know this until after the match.
About beer two there were clouds over head and I felt a 'drop'. As I also felt beer slash out of my cup, I discovered that the 'drop' was a bird pooping on my head, which then splashed into my beer. I insisted the manager replace my beer with a full one, and he did. We all get a bit laugh out of it because of course I just carried on as if it were the most appalling thing that had ever happened to me.
I didn't even notice the blood on his jersey until he got closer to me.
We ended up getting a ride home with Andrew Rouvi. He just lives down the road from us and didn't mind at all. Saturday morning I got up to skype with Grammie and Pop. Needless to say I was feeling a bit rough, which my mother pointed out. She somewhat bought the 'I went to bed really late last night' line. But she suspected another culprit, which I will neither confirm nor deny. I just confirmed, didn't I?
We went to a new restaurant called Steak and Bake. It is owned by one of the husbands of a teacher that came in our group two years ago. His food is tasty. I thought it was a bit overpriced for a buffet, but their dinner menu looked fantastic. The ambiance was nice. It has a bit of a jazz theme. They played jazz music and there were all expats in at the time we were there.
Clare needed to get some work done, so Scott and the kids spent the day at our house. We had a drop in from the Rouvis and later in the day Cathy, Mandy and the girls came over for dinner. Stuart cooked a meal for 12. It was awesome! We had a weekend full of friends and fun.
At one point in the afternoon the kids screamed and ran outside saying, 'it's raining', which is the picture where it is clearly not raining. There may have been 3 sprinkles.
Another wonderful week in the UAE, and it's actually not eye ball burning hot anymore.
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